http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Rwanda-to-Syria/Zulu.

html

Bridge text^^ an article about the origin and the history of the Zulu people

In this lesson students are learning about the Zulu culture and will have a chance to relate the
Zulu culture to their own in a journal entry. The students have been working on a piece from South
Africa called Tshotsholoza, and with this lesson it is my goal to give students a text they can read on
their own to learn more about this new culture. When I give my students this article to read it will help
them to understand where the piece originated from and it will give them a respect for the culture the
piece came from.
I chose this article as a bridge text because of the way the text is organized. I really appreciate
how the text is bulleted under different sub-headings such as location, language, food etc. So students
wont get overwhelmed when the article jumps from one topic to the next. Through this text students
will be introduced to different aspects of the Zulu culture without having information overload. After
reading this text and for the next lesson I would have the students pick from one of the specific headings
and have them research more about that aspect of the Zulu culture. By doing this students will take
ownership of the topic because they chose the topic they wanted to research and I think they would be
more willing to dive into heavier text content to learn more about the topic.

Note: This is a lesson plan I am working on for my secondary music curriculum. I have bolded the
section of the lesson that will integrate this bridge text and the BDA strategies.

Relating two cultures/ Part independency

Standards
Perform-Present-MU:Pr6.1.E.Ia Demonstrate attention to technical accuracy and expressive qualities in
prepared and improvised performances of a varied repertoire of music representing diverse cultures,
styles, and genres.
Perform-Analyze-MU:Pr4.2.E.Ia Demonstrate, using music reading skills where appropriate, how
compositional devices employed and theoretical and structural aspects of musical works impact and
inform prepared or improvised performances.
Objectives
Students will complete a reflective journal entry comparing and contrasting their musical culture with the
South African musical culture.
Students will sing in three part harmony becoming independent on rhythm, pitch, words, and tonal
accuracy from their two counterparts.
Materials
Prezi, article, student self-assessment paper, student journals
Warmup
T will have S sing Row Row Row your boat in a three part canon and Do-Do,Re,Do-Do,Re,Mi,Re,Do
etc..
Activity Sequence
T will use a metronome and have one part sing their line on a Loo another on Bim and another on Ti
so S can keep track of their own lines more easily at a slow tempo
T will begin to increase tempo as students become more confident
T will have only one or two parts sing their lines at a time as necessary to fix intonation and pitch errors.
Once students become more confident on the pitches T will have students sing the piece on text
T will then switch activities and S will begin learning more about the South African Zulu culture
https://wildlifesafariadventures.com/zulu-people-of-africa/
T will give this prezi presentation ^^^^^^^
(Before reading strategy) T will ask S to think of aspects about the Zulu culture they would like to
learn more about and be writing down questions that pop into their head during this presentation.
T will stop on the slide that is about Early Musical Development and look at the phrase 2 or more linked
melodic phrases, which werent sung in unison but staggered to result in a simultaneous polyphony
T will help S decipher what all of those words in that phrase mean and relate it to the Tshotsoloza.
On the slide about the characteristics of Indigenous Music T will ask S to look at the characteristics and raise
their hand if they see a characteristic that applies to Tshotsoloza
T&S will then have a class discussion about where these characteristics can be found in the music
T will stop the presentation there
(During reading strategy) T will hand out an article from this website and put students into small
groups and instruct students to look for answers to the questions they wrote out while T was giving the
presentation
http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Rwanda-to-Syria/Zulu.html
As a group S will read bullet points 10-18 and discuss in their groups how the Zulu peoples lives are similar
and different than ours.
(After reading strategy) After reading the article T will then have students write a journal entry
comparing and contrasting the lives of the Zulu people with their own life

Assessment
This assessment will be with a journal entry rubric and a student self-assessment
3 2 1
Compares/Contrasts Student has made cross Student talks about Student only talks
the two cultures cultural connections both cultures about his/her own
effectively and has written about separately and does cultures with no
the way their cultures not compare/contrast reference to the Zulu
are similar and the two people
different
Sentence Entry contains full Entry contains full Entry does not contain
structure/organization sentences and the sentences but the full sentences and does
of thoughts sequence of thoughts sequence of thoughts is not make sense as a
does not jump around hard to follow sequence of thoughts
from topic to topic
Length Entry is at least two Entry is one to two Entry is less than one
paragraphs in length paragraphs in length paragraph with each
which each paragraph with each paragraph paragraph being 4-5
being 4-5 sentences being 4-5 sentences sentences

Student Self-Assessment Name:________________

While singing in three parts today what do you feel you succeeded/excelled at? This could be a specific
measure, rhythmic/pitch accuracy, text or concentration throughout the class.

While singing in three parts today what areas do you think need some work? This could be a specific
measure, rhythmic/pitch accuracy, text or concentration throughout the class.